Do Ceramic Bearings Make A Difference

This is mostly due to the additional time spent to perfect a quality ceramic ball.

Do ceramic bearings make a difference. Riders using ceramic bearings can also expect a smoother riding experience. The first thing that strikes the eye when looking at bicycle bearings is the difference in price between steel bearings and hybrid ceramic bearings. On ceramic bearings this is usually a c3 clearance whilst on steel it s usually cn. Cost of purchase for ceramic and steel bearings.

Replacing them with low quality ceramic bearings doesn t make sense as they will very soon be worse than the original ones. Fitting ceramic bearings will make the bike feel like it is rolling smoother. The bearing clearance is a measurement given to the small gap between the inner race outer race and balls. Despite the small difference in design hybrid bearings requirements differ quite extensively from full ceramic bearings.

If a cyclist has ridden a bike fitted with ceramic bearings and then returns to steel bearings it is likely that slightly more vibration will become noticeable. If only high quality ceramic bearings are used marginal gains will. For example while full ceramic bearings do not require lubrication hybrid bearings do. However while the ceramic balls will still abrade the steel rings hybrids will cope with marginal lubrication better than steel.

While regular bearings are made from stainless steel ceramic bearings are made from ceramic silicon nitride si2n4. The only real big noticeable difference between the two is the bearing clearance.